Updated

Charles Krauthammer told viewers Friday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that President Obama’s first public remarks on the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner over eastern Ukraine were “passive” and a part of a philosophy of disinterest.

“ The only way to explain the unbelievable passive nature of his speech today…there was no passion there was no interest in this. And I think if you want to explain it rationally, maybe he thinks the U.S. doesn't have to do anything,” said Krauthammer.

In his remarks at the White House Friday, Obama stopped short of blaming Russia for the downing of flight MH17, which crashed Thursday on farmland in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard.

But he did not absolve Russia of any involvement saying, “evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine.”

Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor, said Obama was basing his remarks on a misguided notion of Russian and European intentions. “This is really bad, it's going to embarrass the Russians, and they're going to lose on this.” he said.

“Putin has 80 percent support in his country. The propaganda in the country is not reflecting anything resembling the truth. He's not going to lose any support at home.

“This is a war which Putin singlehandedly has started, supported, armed. It's his thugs who pulled the trigger on weapons either he supplied or trained the thugs on, and he's pretending it's the fault of the Ukrainians.”

Krauthammer added, “and the president is unwilling to say the truth, which, in fact, his own U.N. ambassador had said. He's relying on the Europeans, who will never act. They never act on anything unless they're led by the U.S.”

Krauthammer also said Obama’s cautious language regarding the crash site indicated a lack of seriousness, adding, “the president says 'the site has to be secured' in the same way he said 'Assad has to go.' And it has the same weight, zero.”